(Entered 6/28/97)

Ringo is hosting the VH1 documentary, "Classic Albums: Electric Ladyland", which discusses the recordings of Jimi Hendrix with Jimi's engineer, Eddie Kramer. The show will air Sunday, June 29 from 11PM-Midnight EST.

(Entered 6/23/97)

John was honored posthumously Friday (6/20/97) for his contributions to world peace at a ceremony in London for the 22nd Silver Clef awards. Yoko and Sean were among the many celebrities at the event. Yoko accepted the award for John. The honor includes mention of John's contribution to British music. Go here for complete story and picture taken Friday of Yoko and Sean!

(Entered 6/21/97)

It has been reported on the Cibo Matto website that Yuka Honda is currently producing Sean's debut solo album which is said to feature a Sean and Yuko duet. Yuka and Sean also appear on the tribute to Burt Bacharach album singing "The Look of Love."

(Entered 6/21/97)

Paul, who originally stated he would remain behind the scenes and not tour to support his latest album, Flaming Pie, has changed his mind and will make a rare talk-show appearance. He is slated to appear on Late Night With Conan O'Brien--and he won't even have to leave home to do it. A crew from the NBC show will come to him for the June 30 taping. McCartney has also shown a keen interest in appearing on another late-night talk show--only this time as a panelist. Paul would like to be a guest on Bill Maher's Politically Incorrect, but no date has been scheduled yet. Other musical guests who have joined the sometimes raucous banter on the show include John Lydon , Meat Loaf, Joan Baez, and Little Richard. Unfortunately, Paul still hasn't agreed to do any concert dates.

Meanwhile, Paul is said to be looking for a way to boost sales of "Flaming Pie," which debuted three weeks ago at No. 2 on the charts, but has since fallento the No. 12 spot.

(Thanks to Ono-Web)

(Entered 6/18/97)

Richard Joly reports on the Ono-Net that Sean is currently appearing on two recordings as a guest artist. He appears on Dayna Manning's song "My Kind" playing guitar, organ and bass. The record is available now on EMI Canada. See Manning's website for more information.

Richard also reports that Sean is involved with a recording by Beastie Boys keyboard player, Money Mark, playing with Russell Simmins on a remix of "Hand in Your Head." Richard found this info on a Scandinavian site featuring an unofficial, incomplete discography of Money Mark. (!!!)

  (Entered 6/17/97)

Paul McCartney's boyhood home in Liverpool is going to be restored by Britain's National Trust and opened to the public. The Trust announced Wednesday that it received a grant of $77,700 from the national lottery, and that it will use the money to return the house to all its sixties glory. "The history of 20 Forthlin Road has had a tremendous impact on twentieth-century popular culture," said National Trust spokesman Peter Nixon. "The grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund has ensured that the house can open to the public in 1998." Several changes will be made before the mini-museum opens, including restoration of a fifties fireplace and restoring the original doors.

Our thanks to Ono-Web

(Entered 6/14/97)

The June 21 edition of Billboard magazine has the John and Yoko reissues listed as "Vital Reissues" in their Review Section. The online Billboard site does not carry the review, but a fan on the Ono-Net passed it along:

"Variously hailed as a catalyst of the punk movement and criticized as a marginal performance artist with questionable musical abilities, Yoko Ono has been nothing if not iconoclastic in her four-decade career. The latest in Rykodisc's catalog reissue series of Ono's work consists of some of her most notorious work, namely four albums she recorded with husband John Lennon in the late '60's and early '70's. The first of the "Unfinished Music" titles is the infamous "Two Virgins" album, which became better known for its cover portrait of Lennon and Ono nude than for its nonmusical content.

Similarily, the other titles feature the young couple in audio-verite settings, chanting, speaking, groaning and otherwise holding court. The inclusion of bonus tracks (B-sides and previously unreleased cuts) gives these albums newfound musicality and will probably make them quite palatable to fans."

(Thanks to Ono-Net. To find out how to sign up, check out Ono Web)

(Entered 6/2/97)

There's an interview, with new photos, of Yoko in Issue #16 of mondo2000. You can go to their site to find out how to order a subscription or single issues. Mondo2000 can also be found in bookstores such as Barnes and Noble.

(Entered 5/30/97)

Sales of "Flaming Pie" are reported to be brisk as McCartney fans snap them up at a rate that has surprised Capitol Records execs. At the current rate of sales, the disc could land in the Top Five of the nation's sales charts when the totals are released next Wednesday. The album was just released in the U.S. On May 27. Retailers have reported hot sales, with several chains noting that first and second-day sales are topping 15,000 copies each. The Best Buy chain listed "Flaming Pie" as its top seller and has already placed reorders.

George Harrison appeared with Ravi Shankar on a CNN Headline news report. Shankar has a new album of Hindu chants set for release. George sings and plays on the album. More details later.

Gary Graff, who has written music articles for the Detroit Free Press for several years, reported on Ringo Starr's appearance in Detroit this past week. In his dressing room, Ringo was wearing a denim Harley Davidson shirt, jeans, loafers and oval sunglasses. He said it surprised him that young people - teenagers - are into his music and the whole Beatlemania thing. David Fishof, who produces the All-Starr Band tours: "You have a new generation of fans who have seen Ed Sullivan and 'Anthology' and they're starting to scream like their mothers did. I see the fan reaction and the Beatlesque response on this tour more than the others."

Ringo said that the Anthology was more than a blast from the past for him. "On a personal level, I got to hang out with George and Paul again..and we got to record again, which is great. So even if it hadn't sold all those millions of records, if all those billions of people hadn't watched it, and if millions of people didn't buy the video, I still would've had that time with them. And that was wonderful, because it won't happen again."

The 1997 version of the All-Starr Band features Peter Frampton, Cream bassist, Jack Bruce, Procol Harum keyboardist Gary Brooker and Bad Company's drummer Simon Kirke. Ringo's son Zak is not along on this trip: he's busy drumming for the Who.

How does Ringo run the show? Very well, according to Frampton: "He's a very good bandleader. He lets people get on with it. If there's something he doesn't like, he says so, like we all do. But we spend most of our time having a good laugh, which makes for great music."

(Entered 5/28/97)

That 1974 jam with Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Stevie Wonder and Harry Nilsson that Paul talked about at the VH-1 Town Hall Meeting has been found. Liverpool salesman, Phillip Aldridge has it and plans to auction the tape. Bidding will probably start at two-million dollars. Aldridge said he didn't realize the importance of the tape until Paul acknowledged its existence on VH-1.

(Entered 5/27/97)

Paul was featured in the May 27 USA TODAY in an article titled "McCartney Serves Up A Nostalgic Slice of 'Pie'. The article points out that most of the 14 songs on "Flaming Pie" (released in the U.S. today) were written during Paul's immersion in the "Beatles Anthology" project. Paul: "The early tapes were so simple and direct and easy to listen to, and yet they were good little songs. I thought I should try and do the same thing on the album and just keep things simple. I noticed when we went through all the Beatle albums, each track was quite important. I said it would be nice to get back into that habit, so I just made sure that every song on this album was something special." Paul plans to do very little to promote "Flaming Pie" saying he's too lazy right now. He reminisced about being on the road a few years ago: "...we went around the world twice, and that was enough. You find yourself off in some strange godforsaken place and you think, 'I've got a lovely home; why don't I ever visit it?'" Paul talks a little about Linda's battle with breast cancer. He's optimistic that she's recovered fully from the disease, but, "You've got to keep a good eye on it over the next few years. You can never get complacent. But she is doing great and in great spirits."

USA TODAY also reviewed "Flaming Pie", giving it 3 stars out of 4.

(Entered 5/23/97)

The Fugees will join a cast of many (including Joan Osborne, Branford Marsalis and Amy Grant) to record a revised "Imagine" with proceeds going to the John and Yoko charity, Spirit Foundation. Yoko will be there when the group records in NYC on June 17. Complete details at EOnline

(Thanks to Richard Joly at Ono Web!)

Rykodisc has announced that they are offering Yoko's Reissue Package as a preorder with delivery the day of release. The first 60 orders will come with a Key To Open the Universe. There are special discounts for multiple disc orders and complete details about the reissues here.

(Entered 5/22/97)

Paul McCartney has revealed that he has a notebook of never-recorded songs he wrote with John Lennon. These are the earliest-ever Lennon-McCartney songs, written after they met at the Woolton Church Fete in Liverpool some 40 years ago. "There are probably five or six songs," Paul said in a statement. "I wrote them in my exercise book. It's got 'Love Me Do' in it and four others that were never recorded." Paul didn't say if he would ever record the songs at some future date.

(Entered 5/20/97)

Reuters News Agency reports that Paul McCartney has said he probably won't tour to suppport his new album, "Flaming Pie." Executives at Capitol Records are now scrambling to find some kind of promotion to help the album along. This is Paul's first studio album in four years.

Speaking of Paul, he eventually wound up with approximately three-million questions to answer in his Town Hall Meeting this past weekend. VH-1 figured it out at about one to two minutes per question, it would take Paul six years to answer every one.

The studio audience for the Town Hall Meeting was made up of about 100 American radio contest winners and members of McCartney's British fan clubs. During the hour talk, Paul's video for "The World Tonight" was premiered. The video was shot by Paul's daughter and her friend while the family was on holiday.

Paul said he'd been amazed when John told him that "Here, There and Everywhere" was the best song on the Beatles' "Revolver" album. Apparently, John had told Paul it was better than any of the songs John had written for the album. "From John, that was big praise," Paul told the audience.

Speaking of favorite songs, a video clip of President Clinton was shown in which he said "Eleanor Rigby" had really affected him when he first heard it. Paul seemed genuinely pleased that Mr. Clinton had taken the time to tape a segment for the show.

Paul also said there would be no Beatles reunion because "Without John, there is no Beatles." Paul was asked if John had been alive, if he would have reunited with the other three for the Anthology and Paul said he thought it would have happened even before the Anthology.

During the broadcast, Paul picked up a guitar and had the audience singalong to a song he had just written.

No one asked how Linda was doing (she is recovering from breast cancer treatments), but Paul mentioned her lovingly and during the online chat after the VH-1 segment, he said Linda is currently working on a cookbook and a book of photos.

(Entered 5/14/97)

Richard Joly (Ono Web) has unearthed an interesting tidbit about Sean. He and Yuka Honda are performing on "Great Jewish Music: Burt Bacharach" (Avantgarde). This should be interesting!

(Entered 5/13/97)

In conjunction with this weekend's Live Town Hall Meeting with Paul McCartney, VH-1 is airing a bunch of Beatle videos.

Today-Tuesday, May 13:
10:00 AM - The Beatles Video Collections (I and II);
3:30 PM - Repeat I and II;
9:00 PM - Repeat I and II;
9:30 PM - The Beatles Today;
10:00 PM - The Beatles - Video Collections I and II;
10:30 PM - Rock and Roll Pciture Show: I Wanna Hold Your Hand

Wednesday, May 14:
9:00 PM - Paul Is Live;
11:00 PM - Paul McCartney Video Collection

Thursday, May 15:
9:00 PM - Rockshow

Friday, May 16:
12:00 AM - Paul McCartney and the World Tonight;
1:30 AM - Paul McCartney Video Collection;
9:00 PM - Paul McCartney and the World Tonight;
10:30 PM- Wings Over the World

Saturday, May 17:
1:00 PM - Paul McCartney Town Hall Meeting (LIVE FROM LONDON);
2:00 PM - Paul McCartney and the World Tonight;
4:00 PM - Paul McCartney Town Hall Meeting (Taped Repeat);
7:00 PM - The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit;
9:00 PM - Paul McCartney Town Hall Meeting (Taped Repeat);
10:00 PM- Paul McCartney Video Collection

The Town Hall Meeting will be repeated several times throughout the month of May and into June, so you can't miss it! (Unless of course, you don't get VH-1 on your cable system - then you'll have to get a friend to tape it for you! )

(Entered 5/6/97)

Cibo Matto performed one song on the half-hour Comedy Central program, "Viva Variety" - a take-off of the old 60's variety shows. Sean Lennon played bass with the two-woman band, leaping high in the air, hair flying. Cibo Matto and Sean appeared at the end of the show a'la "Saturday Night Live" - with all of the performers standing in a group as the ending credits were given. Cibo Matto maintained straight faces while Sean mugged it up. Sean also appeared in an end-of-the-show bit with the acrobat who had performed amazing feats of balance earlier in the show. Sean, along with other people from the show, were held up on a small platform that was balanced precariously on a steel roller. Details on the Cibo Matto performance will be coming later.

(Entered 5/4/97)

Cibo Matto, who in the past have had Sean Lennon as guest bassist, will perform on VIVA Variety on cable t.v.'s Comedy Central Channel Tuesday, May 6, 1997. 10PM is the time listed. Check local t.v. guides for correct time in your area.

(Entered 5/6/97)

The radio station magazine, FMQB (April 25, 1997) reviewed the first single from Paul McCartney's new album, "Flaming Pie." The single is called "World Tonight" and the reviewer said, "Sir Paul's forthcoming album 'Flaming Pie' was produced by Jeff Lynne, and the first single promises some real treats in store for those of us that would include McCartney's music in the soundtrack to our lives. It's a rich dessert. Paul's Pop chops have never been called into question,and the combination of Rock-edge that he brings forth for this track should cause the same kind of warm fuzzy shivers in your listeners as it has here in the office. Wow!"

Paul will participate in a live chat and webcast from London with VH-1 on May 17. Also, according to FMQB, two previously unreleased tracks are included on Paul's CD single "World Tonight." Tracks include:"Looking for You" - a jam written by McCartney and produced by Paul and Jeff Lynne. The other track is an 11-minute version of "oobu Joobu" containing "I Love This House", a song produced by David Foster.

In the UK, "Young Boy" has been released as the first single from "Flaming Pie". The album follows that release on May 12.

(Thanks to Jen Crawford)

Ringo was featured in the latest Sunday edition of USA Today magazine. A nice color photo accompanied a short interview in which Ringo stated that he realized how important family is when his daughter, Lee, was struck with a brain tumor. She's okay now. He also challenged the interviewer to conduct the entire event without mentioning the Beatles, but of course, that was impossible. Asked about last year's $225 million offer for a three-man Beatles tour, Ringo said, "To set the record straight, I had dinner with George Harrison just laast night and we decided..." (pause) ..."we're not getting together."